Map Reading for Beginners

Today’s blog is a fairly straightforward one about just carrying on, no matter what. That’s not to say that life doesn’t throw up more than its fair share of problems; on the contrary, it certainly does. It’s also not to say that, at times, these can’t stop you in your tracks, because they can. It’s just that you do need to keep going as, I like to think that, I’ve done all my life. At the same time, of course, as trying to get to the bottom of what causes your problems in the first place. In my case, these two are now, I feel, showing real results and helping me to make important changes in both my work and in my personal life.

Someone recently explained to me that one of Freud’s concerns was in trying to determine why people often prevented themselves from having what they really wanted to. That’s something I very much relate to and a problem that I’ve have been making real inroads into during the past few months. The results have been extremely satisfying and life changing.

The process was demonstrated when I had a Skype conversation with one of my public speaking colleagues, the lovely Rebecca Jones. Apart from being very supportive, she went through in some detail, what I needed to do to make more of an impact in the particular area of speaking that I work in. Whoever it was who said, “Physician, heal thyself” never spoke a truer word; a point I make as that detail is exactly what I describe to the community organisations I work with when they are tackling things that they’ve never done before. That is to draw out from each person what they have achieved in their lives, identify their goals and then to take them forward in small, manageable steps. To rephrase another cliché “Even a marathon starts with that first pace”.

Well, that’s exactly what Rebecca did for me as well as helping me to see things in a different light. She was also very honest in what I needed to do and what I’m currently not doing in ways that I need to. For which, many thanks. So, just carrying on is fine; however, you also need to make sure that you are reading the map properly. If you don’t you are hardly likely to get to where you want to be. And, by the way, it’s never too late to try.